Priscila Uppal
by George J. Dance Priscila Uppal FRSC (October 30, 1974 - September 5, 2018) was a Canadian poet, fiction writer, and academic, in her lifetime called "Canada's coolest poet."Charlene Davis, Priscila Uppal, Canadian Encyclopedia, September 7, 2018. Web, May 10, 2019. Life Uppal was born in Ottawa, Ontario. When she was young, her mother abandoned her children and disabled husband."Priscila Uppal, Canadian poet, dead at 43," CBC Books, September 5, 2018, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Web, May 11, 2019. Uppal graduated from Ottawa's Hillcrest High School in 1993.Priscilla Uppal, Wikipedia, October 25, 2016, Wikimedia Foundation. Web, Nov. 5, 2016. She earned a B.A. in English and creative writing from York University (York) in 1997, an M.A. in English from the University of Toronto in 1998, and a Ph.D. in English literature from York in 2003.Priscilla Uppal, Asian Heritage in Toronto, Ryerson University Library & Archives. Web, Nov. 5, 2016. She lived in Toronto, where she was a professor of humanities and English at York. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Arts Council. She frequently gave guest lectures, talks, and workshops in both academic and non-academic circles about writing, reading, literacy, ethnicity, revisionism, genres, pedagogy, and many other topics, in Canada and internationally. She appeared on numerous TV and radio programs and panels, and was reviewed and profiled in national and international papers. Her works have been published and taught internationally, and translated into Croatian, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Korean and Latvian.About, PriscillaUppalCa. Web, Nov. 5, 2016. She was poet in residence for Canadian Athletes Now during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and in 2011 became the 1st Rogers Cup Tennis Tournament poet in residence. She was originally called "Canada's coolest poet" by London magazine Time Out in 2012, when she was appointed poet in residence at the Summer Olympics in London.""'Canada's Coolest Poet: York English Professor Priscila Uppal, Dies," Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, September 5, 2018, York University. Web, May 11, 2019. In 2015 she was diagnosed with servical sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, from which she died 3 years later. Writing In her 2013 memoir, Projection: Encounters with my runaway mother, she wrote about her reconciliation with her mother, who had abandoned her as a young child. Toronto Star Uppal's "bravery and artistry was perhaps best exemplified in the 2017 play What Linda Said, in which she confronted head on, with sometimes biting humour, what it was to cope with cancer." Quotations "I think a very undervalued and powerful tool is the imagination. When you're facing something like cancer, many people like me feel disconnected and alienated from themselves — from their bodies, from their coworkers, from their loved ones, from the world. The imagination is actually a way to repair and reconnect and heal those connections to yourself and other people." ""The power of poetry is difficult to measure or quantify and yet you know its power when you witness its effects." Recognition She was 1 of 3 Canadian writers on the 2007 shortlist for the Griffin Poetry Prize.Griffin Poetry Prize biography In 2014 she was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Publications Poetry *''How to Draw Blood from a Stone''. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1998. ISBN 978-1-55096-230-7 *''Confessions of a Fertility Expert''. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1999. ISBN 978-1-55096-550-6 *''Pretending to Die''. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2001. ISBN 978-1-55096-519-3 *''Live Coverage''. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2003. ISBN 978-1-55096-571-1 *''Holocaust Dream'' (with photos by Daniel Ehrenworth). Barrie, ON: Maclaren Art Centre / Daniel Ehrenworth Photography, 2005. ISBN 978-0-9693555-9-5 *''Ontological Necessities''. Holstin, ON: Exile Editions, 2006. ISBN 978-1-55096-045-7 *''Traumatology''. Holstein, ON: Exile Editions, 2010. ISBN 978-1-55096-139-3 *''Winter Sport: Poems''. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-894469-49-4 *''Successful Tragedies: Poems, 1998-2010''. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2010 ISBN 978-1-85224-860-4 *''Summer Sport: Poems''. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2013. *''Sabotage''. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2015; Tarset, Northumberland, UK, & New York: Bloodaxe, 2015. Play *''6 Essential Questions''. Toronto: Playwrights Canada Press, 2015. Novels *''The Divine Economy of Salvation''. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2002 ISBN 978-0-385-65805-8; Chapel HIll, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2002 ISBN 978-1-56512-365-6; *''To Whom It May Concern: A novel''. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2009 ISBN 978-0-385-65993-2 Short fiction *''Cover Before Striking: Stories''. Toronto: Lyricalmyrical Press, 2004 ISBN 978-0-9736588-4-2; Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2015. Non-fiction *''We Are What We Mourn: The contemporary French-Canadian elegy''. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7735-3456-8 *''Projections: Encounters with my runaway mother''. Toronto: Dundurn, 2013. Edited *''Red Silk: An anthology of south Asian Canadian women poets'' (edited with Rishma Dunlop). Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1-894469-16-6 *''Uncommon Ground: A celebration of Matt Cohen'' (edited with Graeme Gibson, Wayne Grady, & Dennis Lee). Toronto: Knopf, 2002.Uncommon Ground, Priscila Uppal. Web, Dec. 8, 2015. *''Barry Callaghan: Essays on his works''. Toronto: Guernica, 2007 ISBN 978-1-55071-253-7 *''The Exile Book of Poetry in Translation: Twenty Canadian poets take on the world''. Holstein, ON: Exile Editions, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55096-122-5 *''The Exile Book of Canadian Sports Stories''. Holstein, ON: Exile Editions, 2010. ISBN 978-1-55096-125-6 *''The Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2011'' (edited with Molly Peacock). Toronto: Tightrope Books, 2011. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Priscila Uppal, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 9, 2015. See also *Asian-Canadian poets *List of Canadian poets *Timeline of Canadian poetry References Fonds *Inventory of the Priscila Uppal fonds at York University Notes External links ;Poems *"Niagara Mermaids" at Niagara Falls Poetry Project ;Audio / video *Priscila Uppal at YouTube ;Books *Priscila Uppal at Amazon.com ;About *Priscila Uppal in the Canadian Encyclopedia *""'Canada's Coolest Poet: York English Professor Priscila Uppal, Dies," York University *"Priscila Uppal, Canadian poet, dead at 43," CBC *"Toronto through the Eyes of Priscila Uppal" at BlogTO, 2009 *Priscila Uppal Official website *Toronto Poets 5 Questions Series: Priscila Uppal at Open Book Toronto, 2011. Category:Canadian novelists Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian people of Indian descent Category:Writers from Ottawa Category:1974 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Canadian women writers Category:Canadian writers of Asian descent Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:Canadian poets of Asian descent